


Big Enough Bucket

by Kathar



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, Gen, Sam Wilson is crazier than you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-28
Updated: 2014-08-28
Packaged: 2018-02-15 02:04:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2211672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kathar/pseuds/Kathar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Sam, no," says Captain America-- because if there's one voice instantly recognizable these days no matter how distracting the background noise is, it's Steve Rogers. People hear it in their sleep. Or... <i>going to sleep</i>. It continues: "This is crazy. And unnecessary."</p><p>Sam Wilson takes the ice bucket challenge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Big Enough Bucket

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gth694e](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gth694e/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Challenge Accepted](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2206569) by [gth694e](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gth694e/pseuds/gth694e). 



> Trigger warning: briefly describes ALS degeneration in a loved one
> 
> I was challenged by [gth694e](http://archiveofourown.org/users/gth694e/pseuds/gth694e), [here,](http://mandyp12.tumblr.com/post/95886402514/peskyredhead-nominated-me-for-the-als-ice-bucket%E2%80%9D) to the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS-- either traditional-style, or via fanfic, with a donation either way.
> 
> I chose fanfic.

“Looks freezing,” says a familiar voice.

“That’s the point.” The other voice comes from off-camera right. Directly out of the blue, in fact. "I have always wanted to do this," it says, honey-rich and nearly oozing satisfaction. "Whaddya think? These babies gonna hold?”

"Sam, no," says Captain America-- because if there's one voice instantly recognizable these days no matter how distracting the background noise is, it's Steve Rogers. People hear it in their sleep. Or... _going to sleep_. It continues: "This is crazy. And unnecessary. And if they break, I'm going to hear Tony complaining about this every single moment he spends rebuilding them. Respect the gear, remember?"

"I always respect the gear." It's the voice to the right again, apparently named “Sam.” “If he didn't make 'em waterproof, what good are they?" There’s a pause when nobody speaks. The camera shifts slightly and the clouds keep floating on in the insanely blue sky, and the sound quality remains horrible, as if the video is being taken next to some kind of heavy machinery. _Chunk chunk chunk chunk_ it whirrs.

"Oh please," says Sam after a moment. "Don't even give me that look, Rogers, this is about half as insane as the stunts you pull on a daily basis. At least I have wings. You don’t have to be here. Right, Nat?"

"I plead the fifth," a new voice, a light voice, says, cutting in on top of Captain America again while he’s trying to protest. It’s probably the cameraperson, since it’s slightly louder, slightly closer.

“Sam, we don’t have anyone who can catch you if this doesn’t--” says Captain America, and he’s greeted with a frustrated sigh.

“Hey, you’re the one who challenged me, Captain America. Shoulda thought of this beforehand.”

“If I had even come halfway to imagining this--” a hand suddenly comes into frame, midway through a sweeping gesture-- “I wouldn’t have done it. You’re supposed to be the _sensible_ one, Sam.”

“Did you miss the part where I once dropped my entire life in order to go help Captain America take out three entire helicarriers?” Sam replies, a little acidic now, maybe a little impatient. “You only missed me being crazy because of how crazy you are. Steve… you don’t have to watch, but this was _my_ choice, and I’m ready. You ready Nat?”

A thumb, flipped upwards in assent, pops up briefly in camera range.

"Right, let's do this." A face appears in front of the video, then the rest of a body, and a set of actual mechanical wings, folded back and down. The man in the video, Sam, is grinning maniacally, as if he doesn’t know just how many times his smile, his biceps, his neat little goatee, his chest, and the wings attached to his back are about to cause the denizens of social media to lose their ability to can. The number of gifs that will pop up soon, hashtagged #wingporn, will be enough to drive Tony Stark to drinking before 11 am. 

"Hi," says the soldier-with-wings, and #literal wingman is also climbing the trending charts, "I'm Sam Wilson. Captain America here," Sam pulls an honest-to-god American superhero into the frame and chucks him familiarly on the chin, "nominated me to the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS. Big enough bucket for you, Cap? Now," he frowns a moment, and pauses, and Captain America looks over at him, dropping his long-suffering look for something more tentative. "You go look up his video. He did a damn fine job explaining ALS to you all, when he did his challenge. And trust me, I know. I... uh. I’ve seen it first-hand, you know? If anything… if anything, he undersold it."

"Sam." Captain America pulls away now, obviously concerned, starting to gesture at the camera-person to cut, but Sam Wilson waves him off.

"Yeah, well. So I kinda avoided the challenge for a while, okay? Didn't think I could take it in the spirit meant, and let me tell you, I am _all_ for raising money for ALS research. And for support for families and people living with ALS. We are blessed with a lot of organizations out there that do that. Y'all out there, if this makes you want to donate? We'll slap some urls up before this goes up on Youtube. Anyway. I was gonna punt, when I thought about it.”

Sam’s not precisely starting at the camera anymore, he’s turned out just a little, like he wants to turn all the way and just talk to Captain America, but he’s not going to do it. Steve Rogers is watching him, arms crossed, mouth thinned, and for some reason, there aren’t a lot of photosets out there of this moment. The few that exist all seem strangely invasive.

“And I realized,” Sam continues, “That I watched someone I love, who would have loved this, as their body betrayed them, till they couldn’t move at all, ‘till they couldn’t even breathe. Lost others, one way or another. They don’t have this chance anymore. But I'm here still, right? _I_ can still do stupid-ass stunts like I'm about to pull, and let me tell you, there's not a _day_ I take that for granted, anymore. So. I have _always_ wanted to do this, but for some reason the Air Force thought it was a waste of taxpayer dollars. _These_ wings are mine though."

At that, Sam Wilson salutes the camera-- and falls backwards out of shot. Not for long, though. The camera pans forward, shaky as hell, past the perfectly-proportioned chest of Captain America, where he’s staring down past his own feet. (The Tumblr photosets of the look on his face, caught at an oblique angle, include such sentiments as #my poor bb, #he just wishes he were going with and, #Capfeels.) It becomes clear why the sound quality is hell-- the camera is on a helicopter, and Sam Wilson just left it, falling backwards with his arms outspread and his wings tucked behind him, getting smaller by the second.

Beneath him, the world is still blue and white, but it's no longer clouds marching in formation, it's a sleek expanse of ice, an _enormous_ expanse of ice, clinging precariously to the side of a bare cliff, and below it the water is aqua, translucent in the sun. Chunks of ice dot the water.

Sam is still falling, still falling, must be nearly at the glacier by now, when he suddenly flips in the air, and those beautiful wings spread wide, gleaming, slowing, turning him, then tucking again as he dives into the water.

"Mother and country," Captain America says (#motherandcountry is trending on Twitter too, and Tony Stark favorites every single glorious tweet of it), and the camera person is still as a tripod.

Sam emerges twenty yards from when he went under, breeching like an orca, leaping, diving, emerging again in a spray of diamond water, and streaking upwards. The helicopter rocks with the force of his landing, and he scrambles back inside. His wings shudder, then begin to contract neatly into the pack on his back.

Captain America throws a foil blanket over him, but Sam's smile is practically its own source of heat, and he's grinning like he's half cetacean.

"Always wanted to do that," he repeats happily, then turns his gaze on the large man in blue and white, who is currently trying to wrap him up like a burrito. “Hey. Hey Cap, hey.” He waits until he has the attention of Captain America, until they’re looking each other right in the eye, “I’m right here, right? Came right back up.”

Captain America whispers something in his ear, smiling himself now, though perhaps a little weakly. People who lip read have offered tentative transcriptions, some of which are highly suspect.

The consensus seems to be that Cap’s response was:  
 _Big enough bucket for you, Sam?_

"Just about," Sam says, his grin easing off into a general openness.

“Boys. Nominations,” says Nat-behind-the camera, and Sam turns to nod at her.

"Nominations. Right.” He unearths a hand and points at the camera. “ _My entire group_ back at the V.A., you hear me now? All of you, as a bunch or individually. Stick together, guys. Who else? Um... Danny Rand, top that. Dare ya. And uh, Misty Knight. Sorry, Misty, don't kill me. Okay? Oh! Nat says ‘and Phil Coulson.’ Okay! Nat, shut that thing off, my balls are freezing." (#myballsarefreezing was already trending, actually.)

The camera points to the floor at a pair of black boots, and wavers for a moment. Urls appear on top of them, for organizations fighting ALS and muscular dystrophy-- some national, some local. There’s also a link to a military veteran’s association, and it doesn’t take _that_ long for the internet to figure out why, and then the speculation starts about just who Sam Wilson might have known. Veterans, after all, are twice as likely as civilians to develop ALS. But that’s later, and Sam never addresses it directly. 

This is now, the camera still rolling, and offscreen Captain America mutters "And you call me the crazy one, Sam." 

Sam laughs, and says "Can't let you get off easy, Steve. Got to have someone keep you on your toes."

“Is _that_ what you call it these days?” says Captain America.

The camera shuts off abruptly.

\----

Two weeks later, after the Ice Bucket Challenge has moved on and the hashtag trends have wandered off to grace the network season premieres and the start of football pre-season games, Sam Wilson, the Falcon, is introduced as the newest member of the Avengers. His mechanical wings are gleaming, he’s wearing an all-over armor of red and white, and Captain America is standing with one arm around him. He finishes his introductions with "he's crazier than I am, so this is the safest place I could think of for him to be: here, with us, doing stupid-ass stunts every day."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to the ever-amazing [faeleverte](http://archiveofourown.org/users/faeleverte/pseuds/faeleverte) for the beta on short notice.
> 
> I have no nominations, but I’d challenge anyone who wants to take gth694e’s challenge: donate, ice bucket, or ice bucket fic, featuring someone challenged in one of your stories. On your own time.
> 
> If you’re considering donating or doing the ice bucket challenge, the ALS Foundation http://www.alsa.org/, is a fine organization and worthy of donation, as is the Muscular Dystrophy Association: http://als-mda.org/. You can also look up research universities or medical centers in your area with muscular dystrophy or ALS support groups.


End file.
